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Donald J. Trump White House 2nd Term Page 16
Story by Aliss Higham

President Donald Trump has taken aim at an Indiana Republican, State Senator Rodric Bray, over redistricting in the state.

Writing on Truth Social this weekend, Trump wrote: “I was with David McIntosh of the Club for Growth, and we agreed that we will both work tirelessly together to take out Indiana Senate Majority Leader Rod Bray, a total RINO [Republican In Name Only], who betrayed the Republican Party, the President of the United States, and everyone else who wants to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! We’re after you Bray, like no one has ever come after you before!”

McIntosh, who is the former Republican representative for Indiana, backed the president. “President Trump and I are aligned. Rod Bray is going down,” he wrote on X.

Newsweek has contacted a representative for Bray for comment via email outside of regular working hours.

Why It Matters
Trump has been encouraging Republican-controlled states to redraw their U.S. House district maps mid-decade—not just after the usual census cycle—to create more districts that favor GOP candidates in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections. This is part of an effort to help the party keep or expand its narrow majority in the House of Representatives.

The pressure on Republicans to redraw maps has triggered gerrymandering battles nationwide, with Democrats also moving to change electoral maps. His comments come after Virginia House Democrats on Wednesday approved a redistricting constitutional amendment for a second time, clearing the way for a state Senate vote as the party moves to redraw the Old Dominion’s House map ahead of the midterms, which will take place in November.
During a roundtable discussion at the White House several weeks ago in late October, Donald Trump openly admitted that he pardoned crypto billionaire and former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao because a lot of "very good people" told him to.
Brad Onishi, author of "Preparing for War", joined the ‘The Weekend: Primetime’ to unpack the growing number of social media posts from official government accounts displaying what many experts have identified as white Christian nationalist rhetoric. Experts have pointed out similarities between phrases used by Adolf Hitler and neo-Nazis to those being published by agencies under the Trump administration.
Sarah K. Burris

President Donald Trump's trade efforts have helped ignite new possible trade deals for China in the absence of the United States.

Trump issued another tariff threat on Europe that will begin February 1, however, it has caused some backlash. In a post to X, European Parliament member Bernd Lange, announced they have canceled the trade deal that had been made with the U.S. until further notice. Several hours later, Trump backed down from the European tariff, and claimed he had a deal on Greenland with NATO.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President George W. Bush's former chief economist on the Council of Economic Advisors, told CNN that the EU trade deal was a way for Trump to get out of his damaging tariffs while saving face.

He noted that the result of Trump's recent moves, many countries are now looking to China for trade deals over the United States.

"All of which is a reconfiguration of the global trading arrangements at the expense of the United States," he said.
Story by Billal Rahman

A 36-year-old man who was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis has died while being held at a detention facility in El Paso, Texas, federal officials confirmed on Sunday.

Victor Manuel Diaz, a Nicaraguan national, was found “unconscious and unresponsive in his room” at Camp East Montana on January 14, ICE said in a news release. Diaz was pronounced dead at 4:09 p.m. local time, the agency added.

ICE said Diaz’s death was being treated as a presumed suicide, but the official cause remains under investigation.

ICE agents arrested Diaz in Minneapolis on January 6 on an immigration violation charge after federal authorities determined he was living in the United States without legal status. He was detained pending removal proceedings following a judge’s deportation order issued in August 2025.

The Context
Diaz’s death comes amid a larger trend of rising fatalities in federal immigration detention. Government records and press releases indicate that multiple migrants have died in ICE custody in recent months, marking one of the most lethal periods for detainees in decades as enforcement operations and detention populations have expanded. There have been three known deaths at Camp East Montana since it opened last year.
Story by Marita Vlachou

President Donald Trump appears to still be upset that the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize went to someone other than him, now suggesting that the snub was somehow linked to his push to acquire Greenland, the Danish semi-autonomous territory.

In an extraordinary letter to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, first reported by PBS NewsHour, Trump said he no longer feels constrained by “an obligation” to consider peace, adding that he is primarily focused on advancing U.S. interests.

“Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace,” Trump wrote in a letter to Støre, according to Bloomberg and PBS NewsHour. “Although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.”
Story by Victoria Bekiempis

A second man being held at a US immigration detention facility in Texas has died in two weeks, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said on Monday.

Victor Manuel Diaz, 36, originally from Nicaragua, was found “unconscious and unresponsive in his room” on 14 January at the Camp East Montana detention facility in El Paso, ICE said in a press release.

“They immediately notified contract medical staff on site to conduct life saving measures,” it said, adding that emergency medical technicians arrived to the facility but could not revive Diaz, who was pronounced dead just after 4pm. ICE asserted that Diaz “died of a presumed suicide” but that the “official cause of his death remains under investigation”.

Related: Death of man at ICE camp could be investigated as homicide after examiner’s report

Diaz was detained on 6 January during the Trump administration’s controversial deportation blitz in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He initially entered the US through the Mexican border in March of 2024, when border patrol agents picked him up and he was given a court date with an immigration judge, then released on parole. On 26 August of last year an immigration judge ordered Diaz’s removal “in absentia”. ICE detained him on 12 January in order to deport him.
The U.S. is celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday. Jeanne Theoharis, a professor of political science and history at Brooklyn College, breaks down how the day has changed under the Trump administration.
Story by Arthur Delaney

Staffers from billionaire Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” had unauthorized access to sensitive information inside the Social Security Administration and may even have used it in coordination with an outside advocacy group, the Trump administration said in court.

The Justice Department said in a Friday “notice of corrections for the record” that the administration had uncovered “communications, use of data, and other actions by the then-SSA DOGE Team that were potentially outside of SSA policy” or in violation of a court order stemming from unions’ efforts to block DOGE from accessing people’s data.

The filing reveals officials falsely stated in the court case that DOGE team members had no access to personal identifying information when they actually did in several specific instances. In one case, DOGE staffers shared with their affiliates in other agencies an email attachment containing approximately a thousand people’s names and addresses.

In another instance, an advocacy group asked two members of the DOGE squad for help analyzing voter rolls the group had acquired with an eye toward overturning election results in certain states. The filing says there’s no evidence the staffers shared data with the group.
Story by Ryan Bort

Donald Trump has been operating like an authoritarian ruler since retaking the presidency a year ago, openly flouting Congress, the Constitution, the court system, and anything else standing in the way of his agenda. He recently started musing about canceling the midterm elections, and is currently in the midst of an imperialistic push to wrest control of Greenland from America's NATO ally, Denmark. He hasn't paid much mind to international law, either.

Trump is in Davos, Switzerland, this week, trying to make a case that Denmark is "our territory." He offered a bit of insight into how he views his role as president while taking questions from the press following his speech to the World Economic Forum on Wednesday. "We got good reviews on that speech," Trump said of what he claims was a positive response to his speech earlier in the day. "Usually they say he's a horrible dictator-type person."

"But sometimes you need a dictator," the president added.

Trump claimed during the speech that he would not use force to take control of Greenland - which he referred to as "Iceland" multiple times - but repeatedly stressed that the U.S. should take over the "piece of ice, for world protection." He continued to threaten that "we will remember" if Denmark doesn't cede control. When asked by a reporter to clarify what he meant when he said "we will remember" if Denmark doesn't give Greenland to the U.S., Trump replied, "You'll have to figure that out for yourself. You're a smart guy."
Story by Sarah K. Burris

Former special counsel Jack Smith spoke to the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday where he clarified some details that Republicans have tried to use as talking points against him.

Legal, analyst, reporters and commentators took to social media to attack the questioning of Smith.

"Republicans on House Judiciary don’t want answers from Jack Smith. They keep on interrupting him as he responds to their questions," said legal analyst Katie Phang.

"Jack Smith reminds us that the cases against Trump were dismissed 'without prejudice.' Meaning they could be brought again," legal analyst and podcast host Allison Gill, of @MuellerSheWrote pointed out.

National security analyst Marcy Wheeler cited Rep. "Hank Johnson still has it: While we're deposing Marshall Miller (the guy who got Jack Smith hired) perhaps we can depose Donald Trump why he hired his personal lawyer to run DOJ."

At one point, she noted, "So far Jack Smith is getting his a-- handed to him by the 5-minute rule and Dem ineffectiveness."

MS NOW producer Kyle Griffin pointed out a key quote from Smith: "Donald Trump was not looking for honest answers about whether there was fraud in the election. He was looking for ways to stay in power. And when people told him things that conflicted with him staying in power, he rejected them."
Opinion by Niko Mann

After the President of the United States finished his speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 21, 2026, Donald Trump gushed over reactions to his public address. The rambling speech featured Trump confusing Greenland with Iceland multiple times and insulting NATO, and his mental health was called into question all over social media.

However, Trump claimed he did a good job and that the speech "got great reviews" during a reception dinner for the World Economic Forum. He also mentioned comparing himself to a dictator, and his words have folks understandably clutching their pearls. So, did Trump actually call himself a dictator?

Did Donald Trump call himself a dictator?
Yes, technically, Trump did call himself a dictator. While gushing over his delusion that his speech was a smashing success at the reception dinner, he compared himself to a dictator while expressing the "need" for one as well.

“We had a good speech, we got great reviews. I can’t believe it," he said. "We got good reviews on that speech. Usually, they say, ‘He's a horrible dictator-type person.’ I'm a dictator. But sometimes you need a dictator. But they didn't say that in this case. And no, it's common sense. It's all based on common sense, you know. It's not conservative or liberal or anything else. It's mostly, let's say, 95 percent common sense."
Story by Ana Faguy - on Capitol Hill

In his first public testimony about his criminal investigations of Donald Trump, former special counsel Jack Smith said the president was responsible for the violence on 6 January 2021, when hundreds of rioters stormed the US Capitol.

Smith told a congressional committee that he believed his team had “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” and enough evidence to win convictions against Trump in both cases they had prosecuted - one into Trump's alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election and the other into accusations that he illegally retained classified documents after leaving office the first time.

Trump pleaded not guilty in both cases, which were dropped once he returned to the White House last year.

On New Year's Eve, the Republican-led committee released 255 pages of transcripts of testimony Smith gave in private about the criminal cases, but Thursday's five-hour hearing was the public's first chance to hear him speak about it.

The lawmakers broke little new ground in their questions, with Republicans repeating accusations that the prosecutions were partisan attacks on Trump and that Smith was spying on certain Republican lawmakers by seeking subpoenas for their phone records. Democrats, meanwhile, targeted Trump's alleged wrongdoing involving the 6 January riot and applauded Smith and his investigations.

Here are four takeaways from the hearing.

Smith doesn’t regret charging Trump
Smith told lawmakers that he did not regret his decision to charge Trump in both felony indictments.

"If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat," he said. "No one should be above the law in our country, and the law required that he be held to account. So that is what I did."
Story by Julia Ornedo

National Park Service staff took down slavery exhibits at Philadelphia’s Independence Mall on Thursday following a Trump-ordered crackdown on “distorted” narratives about the nation’s history.

Crews have dismantled plaques at the President’s House detailing the history of nine people enslaved by President George Washington, which came under scrutiny by the Trump administration last summer, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Staff in fatigue green uniforms were captured by WPVI, an ABC-owned station in Philadelphia, taking down the slavery memorial as onlookers recorded with their phones.

“I’m just following my orders,” one park employee repeatedly told the Inquirer, which reported that he did not acknowledge whether he was doing so because of a Trump directive.

In March last year, Trump signed an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”
Story by David Edwards

MAGA supporters spoke out in defense of Vice President JD Vance after he used Minnesota's old flag at a press conference despite criticisms that it is racist.

Writing on BlueSky, Ana Marie Cox noted that Vance's podium was "flanked by steroidal SUVs declaring 'Protect the Homeland' and the *old* Minnesota flag."

"Reclaiming the old racist flag has become a pathetic cause for the most loser dead-enders out there, so of course Vance plays along," Keith Harris observed.

Many MAGA fans — like Mike Lindell — have called Minnesota's new banner an "Islamic flag."
Display at President’s House site, residence to George Washington, had information on people enslaved by him
Marina Dunbar

Philadelphia is taking legal action against the Trump administration following the National Park Service’s decision to dismantle a long-established slavery-related exhibit at Independence National Historical park, which holds the former residence of George Washington.

The city filed its lawsuit in federal court on Thursday, naming the US Department of Interior and its secretary, Doug Burgum, the National Park Service, and its acting director, Jessica Bowron, as defendants. The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring the exhibits to be restored while the case proceeds.

The display stood at the President’s House site, once home to George Washington and John Adams, and included information recognizing people enslaved by Washington, along with a broader chronology of slavery in the US.

“The interpretive displays relating to enslaved persons at President’s House are an integral part of the exhibit and removing them would be a material alteration to the exhibit,” city lawyers wrote in the legal filing. According to the suit, officials were not informed in advance that the exhibit would be changed.
Story by Isabella Torregiani

Former Justice Department special counsel Brendan Ballou told lawmakers that while federal prosecutors have pursued fraud cases tied to Minnesota’s social safety net, the Trump administration has weakened the Justice Department’s ability to investigate fraud elsewhere.

House Oversight Committee
Ballou briefed the House Oversight Committee on the alleged large‑scale Somali fraud in Minnesota, where defendants are accused of stealing millions from federal and state social‑service programs.

He said he was “deeply distressed” by the scheme, which has already resulted in multiple convictions.

“The department has charged over a dozen people for stealing $14 million from a program meant for children with autism and millions more from a program meant to help disabled Minnesotans maintain stable housing. This is heartbreaking for several reasons,” Ballou said.

Ballou warned that the impact of these fraud cases goes beyond money — they could also weaken trust in Minnesota’s social programs.

“At the most basic level, money meant for the neediest among us — the hungry, the disabled, the destitute — was stolen. I fear that skepticism of Minnesota’s social safety net, one of the things that makes the state great, will grow and it will be harder to fund these programs in the future. And I fear the actions of a few people will be used to demonize an entire population of Somali and East African Minnesotans who overwhelmingly have made the state more vibrant, more diverse and more prosperous,” he continued.

‘Dismantling infrastructure’
Appearing as a witness for House Democrats, Ballou claimed the Trump administration is “dismantling infrastructure” at the DOJ.

“I also fear the selective interest in fraud in America, because at the same time that these crimes are rightly being investigated by state and federal authorities, the larger infrastructure for prosecuting fraud and white-collar crime is being dismantled,” he claimed.

Ballou then provided several examples, noting that in February 2025, the Justice Department suspended enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits illegal payments to foreign officials, as well as the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which prevents individuals from acting as secret agents for foreign powers.

“Between February and April of last year, the department disbanded its Kleptocapture Task Force, which enforced sanctions against Russian oligarchs, and the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team,” he added.
Story by Sandra Miller

A Republican lawmaker appeared caught off guard during former special counsel Jack Smith’s first public testimony when his attempt to downplay Donald Trump’s threats instead prompted a blunt fact-check from the prosecutor.

Questioned by Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA) about the gag order sought against Trump, Smith calmly detailed how courts found statements from the president posed real dangers to witnesses, court staff, and the judicial process itself.
Story by Adam Lynch

"Table for Five" host Abby Phillip delivered a ruinous montage of footage revealing the quickest way to determine when President Donald Trump has already lost interest in a particular topic.

“A fortnight: It's not just one of Taylor Swift's hits. It is also one of Donald Trump's biggest tells this week after threatening to invade Greenland, declaring that the United States will own the island and insulting and isolating America’s allies over that issue,” Phillip said. “He basically said, ‘never mind.’ Why? Well, because a deal he reached with NATO that is ‘forever,’ in his words. But when he was asked about this deal, he gave this response.”

“We’ll have something in two weeks,” Trump told a reporter, after his controversial speech in Davos.

“Now, if that timeline doesn't sound familiar to you, it should,” said Phillip, before ticking off a slew of identical Trump-style promises over other momentarily imperative but now hazy topics, including expiring healthcare subsidies and other issues important to U.S. voters.

“We are going to be announcing over the next two weeks, numbers and specifics…”

“… We're signing a health care plan within two weeks …”

“… I think so, over the next 2 or 3 weeks…”

“… you can ask that question. In two weeks…”

“… I'd rather tell you in about two weeks from now…”

“… I can't tell you that, but I'll let you know in about two weeks…”

“… I would say within two weeks or so. Pretty quick …”

“We don't know the details of how all this is going to shake out — I know that's what everybody seems to think. And he's a very optimistic guy on two weeks. Yes, I will give you that,” admitted Republican Strategic Communications Consultant and former GOP press secretary Lance Trover.
Story by Héctor Ríos Morales

For more than a week, the Department of Homeland Security alleged that during a targeted traffic stop in Minneapolis, one Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was violently assaulted with a shovel and a broom handle by three undocumented immigrants who attempted to evade arrest and obstruct law enforcement.

Although the incident took place Jan. 14, it was not until this week that the FBI released its account of the car chase and alleged assault that led an ICE agent to shoot a Venezuelan immigrant. According to a sworn affidavit reported by the Minnesota Star Tribune, FBI Special Agent Timothy Schanz laid out details that contradicted DHS' description of the incident.

In a statement published Jan. 15, DHS said agents attempted to detain Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan national living in Minneapolis. The agency said Sosa-Celis fled in his vehicle to avoid arrest, crashed into a parked car and then ran on foot. Once agents caught up to him, DHS said Sosa-Celis resisted and violently assaulted one of the officers.

While they were on the ground, DHS claimed two other individuals exited a nearby apartment and attacked the officer with a snow shovel and a broom handle. Fearing for his life, the statement said, the officer fired a "defensive shot to defend his life," striking Sosa-Celis in the leg.
Opinion by Amanda Watford, Kansas Reflector

As a growing number of encounters between civilians and Department of Homeland Security agents — including the widely scrutinized fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis — are scrutinized in court records and on social media, federal officials are returning to a familiar response: self-defense.

In more than a handful of recent encounters, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, has said its agents acted in self-defense during violent encounters, even as eyewitness testimony and video footage raised questions about whether those accounts fully matched what happened.

And in a ruling for a recent civil lawsuit, a U.S. district judge said federal immigration officials were not forthcoming about enforcement efforts, citing discrepancies between official DHS statements and video evidence.

“We’re now in a situation in which official sources in the Trump administration are really tying themselves quite strongly to a particular narrative, regardless of what the widely disseminated videos suggest,” said César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, a law professor at Ohio State University.
Story by Katie Francis

Border Control commander Gregory Bovino came to blows with CNN anchor Dana Bash as she challenged him Sunday on his defense of the fatal shooting of nurse Alex Pretti by a Border Patrol agent.

Bovino, 57, appeared in his new “Nazi-style” uniform on State of the Union, where he was ripped by Bash for offering justifications that “fly in the face” of video evidence of the shooting Saturday in Minneapolis.

“Why was an unarmed man shot multiple times by law enforcement, by your Border Patrol agents?” Bash asked at one point, after showing a clip that appeared to show a gun being removed from Pretti’s person before the shooting.

“Dana, you don’t know he was unarmed. I don’t know he was unarmed. That’s freeze frame adjudication of a crime scene, via a photo. That’s why we have investigators. That’s why we have an investigation that is going to answer those questions,” Bovino said.

He mused to himself: “How many shots were fired? Who fired shots? Where were the guns? Where were the guns located? All those questions are going to be answered.”

“Sir, I think you can see the screen,” Bash interrupted, attempting to bring Bovino’s attention back to video evidence.
Julia Conley | Common Dreams

In the original video of the shooting of a man in Minneapolis, identified by the Minneapolis Star Tribune at 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a woman in a pink coat was seen in the background filming the incident with her phone.

Drop Site News obtained footage that appeared “to come from the direction of the woman in pink filming from the sidewalk” and showed the shooting at a closer distance than the footage taken from inside Glam Doll Donuts.

In the video, the shooting victim, dressed in a brown coat and pants, is seen filming a federal agent with his phone. He’s then seen guiding another person toward the sidewalk as the agent forcefully shoves a third person to the ground.

The agent appears to pepper-spray Pretti and pull him away from the other person as a group of several other officers approach and surround him.

They wrestle him to the ground and struggle with him for several seconds before he appears to try to get up. Roughly 10 gun shots ring out and Pretti falls to the ground.
Story by Marcus Donaldson

President Donald Trump has indicated Ice agents will leave Minneapolis in the wake of a second fatal shooting involving immigration enforcement officers this month.

The US President also announced he would send border tzar Tom Homan to Minnesota to oversee the operations there.

In a Truth Social post, the President stated: "(Homan) has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there. Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me."

Mr Homan is viewed as a potential challenger to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who faces mounting scrutiny over the handling of immigration enforcement in the Midwest state.

Mr Trump had previously suggested that immigration enforcement personnel would eventually depart the Minneapolis area, though he declined to specify when this might occur.

"At some point we will leave," the president said, whilst praising the work of federal agents.
Asked about the ongoing situation in Minneapolis, author Salman Rushdie says "the lies that have been told have found an audience."
During former Special Counsel Jack Smith's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee last week, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) shut down the falsehoods peddled by her Republican colleagues by introducing them to the facts about Jan. 6.
Story by Matthew Chapman

A new motive for President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in Minnesota and other blue states around the country just became clear, reported Mother Jones on Monday — and it's leaving experts appalled.

Specifically, wrote Abby Vesoulis and Ari Berman, the Justice Department has made clear that the ramped-up immigration presence in Minneapolis that has terrorized locals and led to multiple fatal shootings by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, can end — when Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz hands over data that would let the administration interfere with elections.
Jake Tapper reports.
Story by Michael Luciano

CNN’s Anderson Cooper exposed the double standard applied by President Donald Trump when it comes to gun rights.

On Saturday, Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti, who had been filming them. At one point, one agent shoved a woman to the ground. Video shows Pretti attempting to help her before being swarmed by agents, who took his holstered firearm, for which Pretti had a permit. After disarming him, agents shot him 10 times, killing him.

On Monday’s AC360, Cooper reported live from Minneapolis, where he noted that the Trump administration’s claims about Pretti – particularly ones made immediately after the killing – were contradicted by multiple videos of Pretti’s death. The host also played a clip of FBI Director Kash Patel saying, “You cannot bring a firearm, loaded with multiple magazines, to any sort of protest that you wanted.”

Notably, Minnesota allows open carry for handguns, provided a permit is obtained. There is no law against carrying a firearm while protesting, which Pretti was not doing. Instead, he was filming agents.

Cooper aired a 2021 clip of Patel soliciting donations for Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot and killed two people at a protest in 2020. Rittenhouse was acquitted of murder after saying he acted in self-defense. The host noted that Rittenhouse had met with Trump, who called Rittenhouse “a nice young man.”
Story by Robert Davis

A federal court on Monday handed President Donald Trump's administration a major blow to its scheme to rig the 2026 midterm elections.

The Trump Department of Justice has sued multiple states in an effort to obtain their voter rolls. Some experts believe the administration will use the data to limit who can vote in the upcoming midterm elections, the momentum towards which currently favors the Democrats.
During a House Homeland Security Committee hearing last month, Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) gave opening remarks calling out DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on her misuse of taxpayer dollars, spending them for herself and for her friends.
Story by Alexander Willis

Dozens of protesters in Phoenix, Arizona were hit in a drive-by mace attack Monday night by an apparent Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, Phoenix New Times editor Zach Buchanan reported.

“I've been sent video from the end of the ICE raid at the Zipps on 32nd and Shea,” Buchanan wrote in a social media post on X, alongside video of the incident.

“It shows protesters – on the sidewalk, impeding no one – getting drive-by maced by an ICE agent from a truck as it rolls away down the road. Hard to see how such tactics are justifiable.”

In the video, around two dozen demonstrators can be seen protesting ICE on a sidewalk near a sports grill just outside of Phoenix’s downtown area as apparent ICE vehicles drive by. As a silver truck bearing sirens passes by, an individual in the front passenger seat can be seen spraying protesters with what appears to be mace as the vehicle passes by.
Alexander Willis

Immigration and Customs Enforcement was discovered to have unlawfully failed to disclose the deaths of at least eight migrants in detention, a bombshell report from Zeteo revealed Tuesday.

Under existing law, ICE is required to notify Congress of any in-custody deaths within 90 days, but according to a deep dive by Zeteo into ICE disclosures, the agency had failed to do that.

Among the migrants whose deaths had not been disclosed are 34-year-old Leo Cruz-Silva, who died in a Missouri detention facility three days after being arrested, and an unidentified Honduran man who was “struck by a law enforcement vehicle.”
DHS reacts after agents accused of leaving "death cards" in detainees' cars
Story by Andrew Stanton

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is investigating allegations that agents left “racist death cards” in the vehicles of detained individuals.

“ICE is investigating this situation but unequivocally condemns this type of action and/or officer conduct. Once notified, ICE supervisors acted swiftly to address the issue,” a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson wrote in a statement to Newsweek. “The ICE Office of Professional Responsibility will conduct a thorough investigation and will take appropriate and swift action.”

Why It Matters
ICE is facing growing scrutiny over its tactics amid President Donald Trump’s ramped up immigration enforcement. Support for the agency has dwindled in recent weeks—a recent YouGov poll found Americans are split about whether to abolish ICE. Forty-five percent each said they support and oppose the proposal. It surveyed 1,722 adults from January 16-19, 2026.

What to Know
In Colorado, an advocacy group named Voces Unidas said last week that ICE agents who detained nine Latino individuals left ace of spades cards inside the abandoned vehicles. The cards identify ICE’s field office in Denver and were later found by their family members, according to the organization’s statement.

Alex Sánchez, president and CEO of Voces Unidas, said in a statement the group was “disgusted” by their actions.
Zuckerberg puts ICE info on ice; Instagram, Facebook & Threads block links about agents as backlash grows over Alex Pretti killing
Story by Dominic Patten

After being available for months, information about ICE agents is suddenly being blocked today on META-owned platforms Instagram, Facebook and Threads.

“We restrict certain activity to protect our community,” an IG response said Tuesday after an attempt to post ICE List material. “Let us know if you think we made a mistake.” A similar result came on Facebook, and on Threads any ICE List link or paste simply disappeared with “Link Not Allowed” popping up.

The apparent censoring follows the latest fatal shooting in Minneapolis this past weekend of an American citizen by ICE officers with the death of Alex Pretti. A 37-year-old ICU nurse who was trying to stop masked federal agents from assaulting a woman observing them, January 24 killing of Pretti has proven the tipping point for even some Republicans against Trump’s heavy handed tactics. The jamming of access on META to the anti-ICE website also comes as protests and critiques of the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement agency and its masked officers seems to be repressed on the new-ish US version of TikTok, which has a number of Trump and MAGA supporters among its new minority stake owners.

Having finally sealed an administration brokered deal, TikTok has blamed the whole thing on the bad timing of “a power outage at a US data center impacting TikTok and other apps we operate.” Still, outgoing California Governor and likely 2028 POTUS contender Gavin Newsom started a probe on January 26 on whether TikTok is pushing down anti-Trump content.
Newly obtained video shows what happened in the roughly six minutes leading up to Alex Pretti’s shooting
A video obtained by the AP shows what happened in the minutes leading up to when Alex Pretti was shot in an encounter with federal agents outside a donut shop in Minneapolis.
2 agents fired guns in Alex Pretti shooting, DHS finds. Read the report.
Story by Zachary Schermele and James Powel, USA TODAY

Two federal agents fired their guns during the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti on Jan. 24, according to a copy of a Department of Homeland Security internal investigation report obtained by USA TODAY.

The report states that the officers began firing after an agent yelled "he’s got a gun" multiple times. It does not say that the bullets from both agency members hit Pretti.

Videos from bystanders − and a witness account in court filings − do not show Pretti brandishing a weapon when he approached agents.

The investigation was performed by Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility and preliminary findings were based on body-worn camera footage and agency documentation, according to the report. It does not name the agents involved in the shooting.

Here is the report of the DHS investigation into the shooting of Alex Pretti.
ICE agents caught using LRAD weapons at close range against peaceful protesters in Minneapolis
Story by Cheyenne Ubiera

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents seemingly used long-range acoustic devices against peaceful protesters in Minneapolis.

Ed Krassenstein, a political commentator, shared a video of protesters standing in front of an army of federal agents as someone with a megaphone declares that agents are using a "long-range acoustic device, LRAD," and counts to three. After the countdown, the protesters are seen retreating across the street.

Krassenstein listed some of the issues people suffer from after being exposed to close-range weapons, including permanent hearing loss, vertigo, migraines, nausea, and ruptured eardrums. One person wrote that this scene is what an "authoritarian police state looks like."

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"Federal agents deploying sonic weapons that can cause permanent hearing loss and other lifelong injuries against peaceful American citizens exercising their First Amendment rights," the person wrote. "Disgraceful. Un-American. Dangerous."

Another person accused the federal government of "itching to roll out sonic weapons" after supposedly bragging about using LRAD in Venezuela. "Now suddenly it's being pointed at protesters."
Story by Libby MacDonald

Dr. Scott Strong, a college professor and numbers expert, recently had an eye-opening experience at White Castle when the restaurant didn’t give him the penny he was owed in his change.

“They just kept it,” he told the Kendall and Casey Show on Indiana’s 93.1 WIBC (1). In fact, Dr. Strong was apparently told that not giving customers their pennies back is now corporate policy.

By Scott’s math, if every White Castle location nationwide kept just one penny per cash transaction, the restaurant would be taking in an extra $835,000 a year. And if the practice becomes commonplace, it could result in a 3% to 5% increase in transaction costs for consumers, or even more for those who use cash regularly.

In Scott’s case, asking for the manager resulted in him going home with a shiny nickel for his troubles, but his experience is one aspect of the confusion that's hitting consumers at the cash register in the early goings of our post-penny world. The rules are now inconsistent and depend on the store, the chain, the location and possibly the cashier’s mood.

For consumers on fixed budgets, that means they’re no longer able to predict the final price of a purchase down to the cent when paying with cash.

It’s been almost a year since President Trump took to Truth Social to announce the phasing out of the one-cent piece in February 2025, stating that pennies “literally cost us more than two cents” to make (2). According to the U.S. Mint, over the past decade the cost of producing each penny has risen from 1.42 cents to 3.69 cents (3).
Story by Ellsworth Toohey

Federal agents in Minneapolis were ordered to compile identifying information on anti-ICE activists, according to communications obtained by CNN and reported by The New Republic. Agents were asked to complete forms titled "intel collection non-arrests" and to "capture all images, license plates, identifications, and general information on hotels, agitators, protestors, etc., so we can capture it all in one consolidated form."
A heartbreaking story of a 5-year-old U.S. citizen deported to Honduras by ICE despite being born in the U.S.

Donald Trump told reporters on Tuesday that you can't have guns at protests.

To be exact, he said, "You can't have guns. You can't walk in with guns. You just can't. You can't walk in with guns. You can't do that. But it's just a very unfortunate incident."

So, if you've been following the plot, guns have been quite a thing at protests for a while now. Here are 22 pictures he should take a look at:

1.A protester at an NRA convention in Dallas:
Story by Rachel Goodman

Staff at Ecuador's Ministry of Foreign Affairs blocked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from entering the country's consulate in Minneapolis on Tuesday.

The attempted entry prompted Ecuador's Foreign Ministry to send a "note of protest" to the U.S. Embassy in Quito, the Ecuadorean capital, demanding such incidents "not be repeated," the ministry said in a statement.

The statement referred to the incident as an "attempted incursion into the Ecuadorian Consulate in Minneapolis by ICE agents," Reuters reported, and said staff members took action to protect Ecuadorian nationals who were inside the building.

The incident happened at about 11 a.m., the statement added.

Alleged footage of the interaction shows a staff member rushing to the door and confronting masked agents, telling them, "This is the Consulate of Ecuador. You are not allowed in here."

In the video, the ICE agent says to the employee, “If you touch me, I will grab you.” The employee responds, “You cannot enter here. This is a consulate. This is a foreign government property.”

The video shows the ICE agent leaving shortly thereafter.
Story by ustin Sherman

About the author: Justin Sherman is the founder and CEO of Global Cyber Strategies, a research and advisory firm, and the author of Navigating Technology and National Security.

President Donald Trump may have walked back his escalation against Greenland last week. But his threats have already led the island’s European allies to contemplate more seriously severing their digital ties with the U.S.

Talk of digital sovereignty in Europe isn’t new. There have been years of discussions of a federated European Union cloud and talks of what lessened dependence on the whims of American Big Tech companies might mean. Historically, those discussions were largely confined to tech regulators, politicians, and those in civil society aggravated by Silicon Valley hegemony and the impact on consumers.

Since Trump’s second term began, Europe’s digital-sovereignty talk has looked and felt fundamentally different. The fact that it is coming not just from civil society advocates and consumer protection regulators, but now from hardened national security practitioners marks a notable shift.

Trump’s comments on seizing Greenland this month have only accelerated the fracture. France announced Monday its will replace Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Cisco’s Webex, and Google Meet on government systems with a French alternative, as part of “insurance against future threats.”
Retired couple in shock as ICE points guns at them after church
Story by David Edwards

A retired Minnesota couple recalled how Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents held them at gunpoint after church.

The couple spoke to Paul Graham about their encounter in a video posted this week.

"ICE agents who had the audacity to come and try to arrest and kidnap people leaving church on a Sunday morning," the man remembered. "We turned into a parking lot and were greeted by approximately four unmarked ice vehicles with agents who immediately stopped us and pointed semi-automatic weapons in our face, asked us to roll down the windows, threatened us multiple times with arrest."

The couple said they were told that ICE did not need a warrant for their arrest.
It's 2026 - and Trump is still obsessed with 2020. The FBI carried out an unprecedented raid at an elections office in Fulton County, Georgia on Wednesday, seeking ballots from the 2020 presidential election, which he still falsely claims he won. At the same time, photographs showed National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard present during the search. Attorney George Conway and MS NOW political contributor Jelani Cobb join The Weekend: Primetime to discuss the FBI raid, as well as the White House ramping up its efforts to access states’ voter rolls.
A viral clip shows an ICE agent threatening a Minnesota resident, intensifying backlash over federal immigration tactics.
Written By Frank Yemi

A video featuring a man in an ICE uniform telling a Minnesota resident, “You raise your voice, I will erase your voice,” gained wide attention online this week. It drew criticism as federal immigration operations and protests continued in Minneapolis.

The short clip shows the agent speaking from inside a vehicle. The resident, sounding surprised, repeats the statement as a question, and the agent confirms it, according to the video shared on social media and referenced by several outlets.

Minneapolis, Minnesota - A first official investigation into the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis shows that two Customs and Border Protection agents fired at him – and that he never brandished his gun.

The New York Times and CBS News reported that one Border Patrol agent initially opened fire on Pretti, followed by a CBP officer, per an email containing the preliminary investigation that the Department of Homeland Security sent to members of Congress.

The killing of Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse who worked at a veterans hospital, inflamed tensions over President Donald Trump's assault on immigrant communities and political opponents in Democratic-run cities.
Wael Tarabishi had Pompe disease and relied on his father, Maher, for daily care. Shahd Arnaout, Maher’s daughter-in-law, joins ABC News Live.
It's 2026 - and Trump is still obsessed with 2020. The FBI carried out an unprecedented raid at an elections office in Fulton County, Georgia on Wednesday, seeking ballots from the 2020 presidential election, which he still falsely claims he won. At the same time, photographs showed National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard present during the search. Attorney George Conway and MS NOW political contributor Jelani Cobb join The Weekend: Primetime to discuss the FBI raid, as well as the White House ramping up its efforts to access states’ voter rolls.
Opinion by Greg Palast

For god’s sake, let’s get to the REAL agenda behind Wednesday's FBI raid on the Fulton County elections office. IT’S NOT ABOUT THE 2020 ELECTION. The warrant says the FBI wants the envelopes from the 2020 election to hunt for crimes. But that’s just the legal excuse for the storm trooping.

This is NOT, as the media seems to think, about Trump’s attempt to prove he won the 2020 race, as if he’s some political Captain Ahab trying to chase the Moby Dick of 2020 revenge.

Also Read: Trump pushed us to the edge of disaster. It will soon be too late to step back

This is all about 2026 and 2028. Look at a map. Fulton County is the heart of “Blacklanta.” And Atlanta is the electoral heart of Georgia. And Georgia is the swingiest of swing states. If Republicans don’t cut down the Black vote in Atlanta, they lose the crucial seat now held by Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff. And in 2028, the GOP, if they don’t suppress the vote in Fulton, they lose the White House. Fulton was the fulcrum of Trump’s loss in 2020 and could spell doomsday for Republicans in 2028.

So, how exactly do you stop Fulton County Black folk (and the LGBTQ community and the hipsters who left rural Georgia because they hate their parents) from voting? The answer is: DROP-BOX.
Story by Hannah Broughton

ICE agents reportedly laughed in the face of a man who was taking life-saving medication to his father at a detention facility.

The young man's 58-year-old father was arrested while he was working at McDonald's outside of Minneapolis and was later detained at a nearby facility. Knowing that his dad suffered from heart failure, his teen son took his father's life-saving medicines to the detention facility, where ICE agents apparently just laughed at him.

Speaking to a reporter at MS NOW, the teen, named Anthony, said, "I gave an ICE agent my dad's medicine, but I'm not sure if he got it because the ice agent just smirked at me," adding, "he laughed in my face."

"I feel heartbroken, I feel alone. I just wish my dad would come home so he can be with my mom and my mom can stop crying at night," he added.

The report then said that Anthony went back to the facility along with lawyers and medical professionals and refused to leave until the ICE agents gave him their word that the medication would be given to his father.
Story by BIN

President Donald Trump made a racially charged remark while speaking at a rally in Iowa this week, drawing attention to how he continues to describe his political support in racial terms.

While touting his performance in the last election and citing a Rasmussen poll, Trump told the crowd he “did so great” with several voter groups. After naming Hispanic voters and Black men, he added, “We did so great with white everything.”

The comments were delivered during a rally in Clive, Iowa, as Trump promoted his economic record and urged supporters to remain energized ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Local coverage noted the president relied heavily on familiar campaign themes, including claims of expanded support across demographic groups.

Public election data from 2024 shows that Black voters overwhelmingly voted against Trump, including Black men, despite his repeated assertions to the contrary.

The remarks also come as economic indicators continue to show disparities across communities. The Black unemployment rate has risen to 7.5 percent, compared with a national rate of 4.4 percent, and has steadily increased during Trump’s second term.
Story by Reuters

WASHINGTON, Jan 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit widened by the most in nearly 34 years in November amid a surge in capital goods imports, likely driven by an artificial intelligence investment boom, which could prompt economists to trim their economic growth estimates for the fourth quarter.

The trade gap increased 94.6% to $56.8 billion, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis and Census Bureau said on Thursday. The percentage change was the largest since March 1992. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the trade deficit would rise to $40.5 billion.

The report was delayed because of the 43-day U.S. government shutdown. Imports jumped 5.0% to $348.9 billion. Goods imports advanced 6.6% to $272.5 billion, with capital goods soaring $7.4 billion to a record high. They were boosted by strong gains in imports of computers and semiconductors. But imports of computer accessories decreased by $3.0 billion.

Imports of other goods were also the highest on record. Consumer goods imports increased by $9.2 billion, lifted by pharmaceutical preparations. There have been large swings in imports of pharmaceutical preparations, likely related to U.S. tariffs. Imports of industrial supplies fell by $2.4 billion.
Jennifer Bowers Bahney

An explosive new piece in Salon claims that recruits signing up to become ICE agents under President Donald Trump are motivated more by power and aggression rather than "a sense of noble duty."

Dr. Geoffrey Grammer, a retired U.S. Army colonel and psychiatrist, wrote that before Trump, "ICE agents were typically motivated by integrity, courage, resilience, and a strong sense of duty and allegiance to the Constitution."

Today, however, Grammer claims the emphasis on very public raids and heavy-handed tactics attracts recruits with "authoritarian and punitive traits" who relish the "satisfaction from the suffering they cause" to vulnerable populations.
Story by Lee Moran

Donald Trump drew backlash on Thursday after vowing to keep housing prices high, even as he promotes policies he claims would improve affordability.

Trump sought during a Cabinet meeting to reassure existing homeowners who may worry that efforts to make housing more affordable could reduce the value of their properties.

“Existing housing, people that own their homes, we’re gonna keep them wealthy,” Trump said. “We’re gonna keep those prices up. We’re not gonna destroy the value of their homes so that somebody that didn’t work very hard can buy a home.”

While Trump promised his administration would work to lower interest rates and make buying easier, he said he did not want home prices to fall.

“I don’t want to drive housing prices down,” he said. “I want to drive housing prices up for people that own their homes and they can be assured that’s what’s going to happen.”
Story by Eva Dou

ICE’s lead contractor for a new program to covertly surveil and photograph undocumented immigrants across the United States said after pressure from French officials that its contract is not being executed, in a rare rebuke of the agency by one of its own suppliers.

In December, Immigration and Customs Enforcement quietly began a nationwide program to track 1.5 million undocumented immigrants through paid contractors using a combination of remote technologies and on-the-ground surveillance.

The contracts ICE secured for what it calls “Skip Tracing Services” — a term commonly applied to finding people who have defaulted on loans — could run to hundreds of millions of dollars over two years, according to ICE procurement filings. The program creates a nationwide force of plainclothes, nongovernment monitors to track and photograph immigrants on behalf of ICE. According to the filings, the initiative is intended to serve as a force multiplier for ICE, potentially helping to accelerate the agency’s raids and deportations this year.

A U.S. subsidiary of Paris-based Capgemini, one of Europe’s largest tech and consulting multinationals with more than 350,000 employees worldwide, signed a contract with ICE last month with an initial $4.8 million order for the first three months and a $365 million ceiling over two years, according to federal procurement records, making it the largest award among the 14 vendors — including defense contractors and local private-eye firms — selected for the program.
David Edwards

The Department of Justice reportedly scrubbed numerous files relating to Jeffrey Epstein and President Donald Trump from its website.

After Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the release of around 3 million Epstein documents on Friday, The Bulwark's Sam Stein noted that some details of documents containing Trump's name were "hard to read."

Those documents were unavailable on the DOJ's website less than an hour later.


The pages, however, were archived on X by user Bobby Salsa.

One of the documents recounted the claims of a woman who said that her friend was forced to perform oral sex on Trump.

"[Redacted] reported an unidentified female friend who was forced to perform oral sex on President Trump approximately 35 years ago in NJ," the document stated. "The friend told Alexis that she was approximately 13-14 years old when this occurred, and the friend allegedly bit President Trump while performing oral sex. The friend was allegedly hit in the face after she laughed about biting President Trump. The friend said she was also abused by Epstein."
Story by MARYCLAIRE DALE

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal judge warned Justice Department lawyers on Friday that they were making “dangerous” and “horrifying” statements when they said the Trump Administration can decide what part of American history to display at National Park Service sites.

The sharp exchange erupted during a hearing in Philadelphia over the abrupt removal of an exhibit on the history of slavery at the site of the former President’s House on Independence Mall.

The city, which worked in tandem with the park service on the exhibit two decades ago, was stunned to find workers this month using crowbars to remove outdoor plaques, panels and other materials that told the stories of the nine people who had been enslaved there. Some of the history had only been unearthed in the past quarter-century.

“You can’t erase history once you’ve learned it. It doesn’t work that way,” said Senior U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe, an appointee of President George W. Bush.

The removal followed President Donald Trump’s executive order “restoring truth and sanity to American history” at the nation’s museums, parks and landmarks. In Philadelphia, the materials were put in a pickup truck and then into storage, leading Rufe to voice concerns about whether they were damaged.
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